Melanargia galathea

Melanargia galathea, the marbled white, is a medium-sized butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Despite its common name and appearance, this butterfly is one of the "browns", of the subfamily Satyrinae.

Marbled white
Male, upperside Whitecross Green Wood, Oxfordshire, England
female, upperside
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Melanargia
Species:	M. galathea
Binomial name
Melanargia galathea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Papilio galathea Linnaeus, 1758 Melanargia albibasa Lempke 1957 Melanargia annae Kesseler 1945 Melanargia brunneocosta Lempke 1957 Melanargia brunissime Perrier 1935 Melanargia caeca Lempke 1957 Melanargia carolina Weber 1964 Melanargia caronae Gallay 1947 Melanargia craskei Tubbs 1978 Melanargia dissiuncta Gussitsch 1917 Melanargia emma Rocci 1930 Agapetes essonsakaria Verity, 1953 Melanargia grisescens Varin 1948 Melanargia hades Reiss 1961 Melanargia laetepicta Stauder 1922 Melanargia lepigrei Betz 1948 Agapetes leucogonia Collier, 1952 Agapetes macronereus Verity, 1957 Agapetes macrosciritis Verity, 1953 Melanargia magnifica Stauder 1913 Agapetes microsciritis Verity, 1953 Satyrus nereine Verity, 1935 Melanargia nigrescens Varin 1948 Satyrus nigrionereus Verity, 1935 Melanargia pedemontii Rocci 1930 Agapetes pedenereus Verity, 1953 Agapetes pedenereine Verity, 1953 Melanargia planorum Rocci 1930 Melanargia pura Niepelt 1914 Melanargia quadriocellata Pionneau 1937 Melanargia sibillyna Rocci 1930 Melanargia sylvia Rocci 1930 Agapetes tenebrogigas Verity, 1938 Agapetes tenebronana Verity, 1938 Melanargia valentini Williams 1951 Melanargia vitrimontis Kesseler 1945

This species can be found across most of Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor and Iran. It is found in forest clearings and edges, meadows and steppe where it occurs up to 1,500–1,700 metres (4,900–5,600 ft) above sea level. The caterpillars feed on various grasses.

Subspecies

Subspecies include:

• Melanargia galathea galathea Europe, southern Urals
• Melanargia galathea donsa Fruhstorfer, 1916 Caucasus
• Melanargia galathea lucasi (Rambur, 1858) North Africa
• Melanargia galathea magdalenae Reichl, 1975
• Melanargia galathea procida (Herbst, 1796)
• Melanargia galathea satnia Fruhstorfer, 1917 (= njurdzhan Sheljuzhko) Caucasus Major and Minor
• Melanargia galathea tenebrosa Fruhstorfer, 1917

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  Melanargia galathea magdalenae ♀
• 
  Melanargia galathea magdalenae ♀ △
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  Melanargia galathea procida ♂
• 
  Melanargia galathea procida ♂ △

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  male form procida
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  female form procida
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  male form procida underside
• 
  female form procida underside

Distribution

This species can be found across most of Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor and Iran. There is an isolated population in Japan. It is not found in Ireland, North Britain, Scandinavia (except Denmark) and Portugal or Spain. The late twentieth century saw an expansion of its range in the UK.

Habitat

It is found in forest clearings and edges, meadows and steppe where it occurs up to 1,500-1,700 m above sea level. They are a common sight in unimproved grasslands across southern Britain, particularly on the South Downs, but also extending slightly further north to places such as the Dunstable Downs, Devil's Dyke near Newmarket, Fleam Dyke, Les King Wood near the South Cambs village of Cottenham, The "Edwards" wood, Dry Drayton.

Description

Illustration of egg, larva and pupa

Melanargia galathea has a wingspan of 46–56 millimetres (1.8–2.2 in). In these medium-sized butterflies the upper side of the wings is decorated with white and gray-black or dark brown markings, but it is always gray-black or dark brown checkered in the basal and distal areas. The underside is similar to the upper side but the drawings is light gray or light brown. On the underside of the hindwings is present a row of gray eye spots. The males and the females are quite similar, except that some females may have a yellowish nuance on the underside of the wings. Seitz - M. galathea. In the otherwise black cell of both wing an oval white spot which is not divided by a transverse bar. On the hindwing above the ocelli are quite invisible or shine through very faintly from the underside.

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  ♂
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  ♂ △
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  ♀
• 
  ♀ △

This species is rather similar to the Iberian marbled white (Melanargia lachesis) that replaces M. galathea in Spain and southern France.

The caterpillars are about 28 millimeters long. They are green or yellow with some lighter and darker narrow longitudinal lines. The head is always light brown.

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  Mating
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  Male underside
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  Female underside
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  Form procida aberration leucomelas

Life cycle

Like other members of its subfamily, the larvae feed on various grasses. These include Phleum (P. pratense), Poa (P. annua, P. trivalis), Festuca rubra, Bromus erectus, Dactylis, Brachypodium pinnatum, Agrostis capillaris, Elytrigia, Holcus, Dactylis, Triticum and Agropyron species .

Eggs are laid on the wing, or from brief perches on grass stems, and are just sprinkled among the grass stems. Upon hatching, the larvae immediately enter hibernation and only feed the following spring when the fresh growth occurs. They are a lime-green colour, with a dark green line running down the middle of their back. Pupation takes place at ground level in a loose cocoon. Adults can be found from early June to early September. On a good site, in warm, sunny weather, thousands can be seen gently fluttering amongst the grass heads.

Alternative common names

The marbled white was called "Our Half-mourner" by James Petiver (1717), "The Marmoris" by Benjamin Wilkes and "The Marmoress" by Moses Harris.

External links

• Lepiforum
• Paolo Mazzei, Daniel Morel, Raniero Panfili Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa
• Kimmo Silvonen Larvae of North-European Lepidoptera